Process and apparatus for the conversion of hydrocarbon liquids and gases



March 24, 1936. M4 p. YOUKER 2,035,036 PRocEss AND APPARATUS Foa THE CONVERSION or*A HYDROCRBON LIQUIDs AND GASES Filed June 18, 1931 INVENT-OR.

mma Mut 24', 103e UNITED STATES 'Q y Y:,oslsalvscaf-A- M Pl'toclsssl ANnlAPPAnATUsl-onlrnn com vnnsloN am asses LF HYDROCARBON .I-ItwrusI 1.

, t Malcom PQvenkel-,Bartlesvluegtollla.,imlgntr l t a Pnlnlpslreuoleum company, Bartlesville. rI f Okla., acorporation of.lJelawlu'e.y

minimum Jungla, 1931*,*Svei-ls15ne. 1545300 e i (dilat-.i165

This present invention visacontinuation in part of and improvement ina Processforljthe conversiony of hydrocarbon gases-which was originally disclosed ingapplication for patentby Malcolm PQ Youker, filed in thev United States Patent Ofce May 1, 1925; under UnitedStates C Patent Oflice Serial No. 27,234 now'UnitedBtates Patent 1,300,580.

`In converting hydrocarbon. gasesto hydrocarbon liquids by means of heating such gases in the presence of fuel oilor gas ,oIl,- as disied f in said `patent application, have found that the apparatus has a tendency to gcoke up rather rapidly. i In this `application for. patent I will disr close ya particular methodY by which a mixture of hydrocarbon gases and heavy -hydrocarbonioil or any hydrocarbon material maybe continuously heated kand converted while at the same .time aminimumvamount of carbon` will bedeposited in the apparatus. t An objectief myinventionisf to provide a processby whichf ,eitherIga'seous.orl

e e liquid hydrocarbon materialenmy be converted .to new hydrocarbon compounds withoutthe `production of excessive quantitiesofpfree carbon. .This object and otherobjects which willibe made apparent in'the following s peciification are accomplished by mynew process..r`

My new" process will befunderstood fromv the following specification taken in connection with the vattached drawing on which alorm :of appara.

tus by which my new process may be carried out Billustrated'in side elevation. f'

Referring to the drawing, the, numeral I des ignates a furnace or` rst passageway in the bot-kv 'tom of which is mounted az gas burner Any suitable means 'of ring the bottomof ,this'furnace may be utilized; the gas burner` being shownhereonfor purposes ofillustration. `The numeral 3 designates an unfired chambero'r second passageway. The numeral 4 designatesv a smoke stack. A breaching 5' leads fromthe topof the furnace I into the smoke stack, A breaching Y 8 leads from breeching 5 into'the ltop of unred chaniber.4 A damper 'I is mounted in breeching. 5 at a point between smoke stack land breech-- ing 6 and may be operated torestrictthe ow .of gases through vbreeching 5 intosmoke stack `4.

A breeching Bleads'from tliebottom of uniiredV chamber 3 into the smokestackll. A1 damper. 9 is mounted in breeching and maybe operated to controlthe 'ow of vgases through unfired .1

chamber 3 into smoke stack 4. Fuel may be red in the bottom of furnace I and the gases of combustion'Y resulting therefrom will `ow upward through .this furnace and thence from the topof Bvpr'tiallyclosgdamperljai perdenti-robening damper S a'portion'of the gas' f` combustion therefromandaijised to newtnrougnureechmg 5 5, and "'dOWnward" fthriugh. 'immd chamberff ff and'throughjbreeching :into smoke Astack ,It

e is apparent that` by.'fmaniplllation of dampersg-f'fl means offene "pump ,l Ljjnvdrocagbon ,llas-ffii; zo either' liquidjor sas'edusgstatemeyhe delivered: through th'tllbe Ilby meBIS-Qf'thy-Pump 1 land.- the "pipel-IS.'V 'I'he 4furnace V'will beeillwedf:mdf` hydrocarbon materials will be forced by pumps l,I Iv Orlfthfwgh th 01,18.-llhddafPressure wlube maintained thetobennLbymeanstof .at

y the valve I2.. l'heburner ,willbeso regulated V:E

that hydrca'rbon .l matriels' l bastille by may `or; tube I0 through furnace If will .beheated therein-,f tothe proper temperature for conversion'wllichso in most cases will rangey between 800 Alegreesgl-'.A and 1000 degrees 11." The" heated 'material after gf leaving 'furnace'f I-'will pass through that part .fol i 1 the coil i lI 0a [which 21S-, disposed 1 in .v ltlleurliiregl chamberf I 'andi by manipulation l(of.. tl1 e dampersf which leaveithef funebei, pssfthrough .the unfired chamber :3f serve to lprevent lossof heat. from the col/1' Illa which 1s n nuntedy 1 ;,1- sala.

- unfired chamber Si "In'j some cases "al `sfuiicient 40 tained ln'tneco'uswlilbvanee'to suit the rue ular material whicl'ijis being,.(-onvef'rteli.y 145 some materials" it mayjfbe(found.desirableA 2,:-1 vmaintain a-pressure 'in the/,coilsas'flowaspo i pounds -per square'b inch while fin, other leases; xit Vmay be 'desirable to in'agintain.v af pressure. in the ,f

cous as nigh as 3500 pounds per' square meu In orderto heat 'andconvei'thydrocarbonmae 'terials while passing throughl af tube. it isneces- :sary that vthese materials pass throughacon-f,l siderable length Aof r` l heated to 'al conversionternperature.*Ithasf tubef VV'after they have. l'been `z f been customary in the past to mount in a furnace a heatingk tube which is suiliciently long to provide time for conversion after conversion temperature has been obtained in the tube, and this arrangement has been to some extent satisfactory; however, I havel found that due to the fact that all of the gasesof combustion pass over the entire tubesuch an arrangement is apt to cause the formation of free carbon in excessive quantities in the conversion portionof the tube and the deposition of thiscarbon necessltates the frequent shutting'down of such equipment for cleaning purposes. I lnd that it is much more desirable to divide this tube into a. heating portion and a conversion portion, the former portion being subjected to'rapid heating while the latter portion is subjected to only very gentle heating, if any. ThatA part ofthe tube I0 which is mounted in the furnace I is used for rapidly bringing the hydrocarbon material to conversion temperature while that part I IIa` of the tube which is mounted in` unred chamber 3 is provided for the purpose of retaining the materials to be converted at conversion temperature through a sufcient period of time to permit the conversion reaction to proceed to somewhere near equilibrium. The hydrocarbon material having been brought to conversion temperature in the furnacel, conversion of the same may be obtained in unflred chamber 3, even though no heating is accomplished in uniired chamber 3,.provided that this chamber is well insulated to prevent heat loss from that part IUa of the tube which is mounted therein. The provision which I have shown for passing stack gases through the unnred chamber 3 is a method by which heat loss to surrounding objects from the conversion portion Illa of thetube may be prevented and by which gentle heating of the materials undergoing conversion may be accomplished thus supplying heat for an endothermic reaction.

After the converted hydrocarbon materials pass the valve I2 they will oi course be largely in a vapor phase and any of the conventional systems of iractionating columns and condensers may be utilized to separate these converted materials into Various fractions and condense and cool them.

Numerous other arrangements of a similar nature could be made. While I have described in detail one arrangementof va combined heating and conversion tube, I do not wish to limit myself in my claims to this particular arrangement but wish to claim broadly all of the advantages which are inherent in my new process, the fundamental principle of which is that hydrocarbon materials which are to be converted are rst heated in a tube through which such materials are caused to flow progressively and, second, these materials are caused to flow through a tube in which conversion of such materials is accomplished, the second stage being accomplished under heating conditions which are at least more gentle than those conditions which are now conventionally utilized for this purpose. While that part IUa of the tube which is mounted in the unred chamber 3 may be of larger crosssectional area than that part I Il of the tube which is mounted in the furnace I, the cross-sectional area of any part of the tube will be so restricted that the materials will be caused to flow continuously through the tube so that no part of the material will lag materially behind the main body of materials flowing therethrough.

osmosev It is desirable that the length of that portion of the tube I 0 which is mounted in the unfired chamber 3 shall be equal to or greater than the length of that portion of the tube I0 which is mounted in the furnace I. For ordinary prac- 5 tical use, about 2,000 linear feet of' 2%" inside diameter tubing may be mounted in thej-furnace I and about 3,000 linear feet of `21/2" inside diameter, or 3" inside diameter, tubing may be mounted in the uniired furnace'. Such an ari0 rangement ofv tubingA'will be found to give excellent results. In any particular case it will be found desirable Ito carry out certain experiments to dtermine the relative length of tubing required for heating and converting. I general, l5 higher pressures maintained in the tube I0 will reduce the necessary length of tubing used for conversion purposesand vice versa.

The apparatus disclosed herein, as well as the method, may be employed for the treatment of hydrocarbon liquid alone, hydrocarbon gases alone, or for treating mixturesmf hydrocarbon Aliquids and gases.'

1. A hydrocarbon fluid conversion apparatus, comprising iirst and second chambers, communicating elongated 'restrictedA vp'a-ssageways extending through said chambers, means for forcing hydrocarbon iluids'into' the inlet-of the passageway which extends v`through'the first' chamber, means for generating hot products of combustion for the rst chamber, asmok'e stack, a breeching leading from the ilrst chamber tothesmoke stack, a branch conduit'connectlng a point fin the breeching to one end oithesecond chamber, 35 a damper inthe 4breeching between said'4 point and the smoke stack, another lbranch conduit placing the other end of the second chamberiln communication with the 'smoke stack, -and a damper in the last mentioned branch.l I i' 2. A hydrocarbon Huid conversion apparatus, comprising'firstand second chambers, communicating elongated restricted passageways extending through said chambers, means 'for' forcing hydrocarbon iiuids into the inlet 'of the passageway which extends through the rst'chamber, means for generating hot products of combu's' tion for the first chamber, a smoke' stack; a breeching leading from the first chamber to the smoke stack, a branch conduit connectix'ig'aio point in the breeching to one end of the second chamber, a damper in the breeching between. said point and the smoke stack, another branch lobnduit placing the other end of the second chamber in communication with the smoke staokfa damper'in the last mentioned branch, anda pressure control valve for said passageways arranged-at the outlet end of the second passageway. f

3. A hydrocarbon fluid conversion apparatus, comprising rst and second-chambers, communieating elongated restricted passageways extending through said chambers, means for forcing hydrocarbon fluids into the inlet of the passageway which extends through the rst chamber, means i'or generating hot products of combustion for the 65 flrst chamber, a smoke stack, a breeching leading from the first chamber to the smoke stack, a branch conduit connecting a point in the breeching to one end of the second chamber, a damper Ain the breeching between said point and the smoke stack, another branch conduit placing th'e other end of the second chamber in communication with the smoke stack, and adamper in the last mentioned branch, the ilrst passageway being about zooo unearfeet-m length and 5f-about 75 of the stream o! hot products of combustion after. said stream has passed the entire length of coil in the iii-'st passageway, and the remainder j 20' of the stream oi' hot products/ of combustion" -raintaining the mixture in the temperature of conversion.

way being oi' greater length and o! about the same diameter.

4. A process iol" converting hydrocarbon iluids comprising continuously passing a mixture ot normally gaseous hydrocarbons and normally.

liquid hydrocarbons through an elongated 'heating coil of restricted cross sectional area extending through a tlrst passageway, passing a stream of hot products of combustion through said passageway and past said coll for heatingthe mixture passing through the coil to the 'temperature o! conversiom directly passing the mixture thus heated through a second elongatedl coil of restricted cross sectional area substantially entirely within a second passageway, diverting a portion through the second passageway and thereby second coil at the 5. A process for converting hydrocarbon `fluids g acsaosc 2% inch inside diameter, and the second passage of the stream o! hot products of combustion after said'stream has passed the entire lengthol' coil in the nrst' passageway, .and passing the remainder or the..V stream of hot products of combustion through the second way and thereby maintaining the mixture in the second coil at the temperature oi conversion, the mixin both coils under pressures ranging'from 300 to 3500 pounds per-square inch. P YOU-RER.

wreheing heated in the first colite a temperature 20 between .800 and 1000 F., and being maintained 

